Humans and animals have always shared a love-hate relationship. There are some animals we love and keep as pets, while there are others of the wild kind that are best kept at bay. But nature sometimes works in surprising ways and wild animals can come to the rescue of man instead of harming him.

It’s a Wild Life! Living with Animals by Vicky Allan is a fascinating collection of real life stories of animals, both tame and dangerous ones, which have come to the aid of people and formed unlikely friendships with them. And besides the stories, there is a treasure of information about the different animals mentioned.

Split up into nine chapters, such as Cool cats, Top dogs, Going ape, Wolf ways, Bear necessities, etc., each section carries lots of stories of men and women who lived alongside animals, traces the importance of the particular animal in history and different cultures, facts and special features, and some record-breaking feats that will turn anyone into an animal lover.

Many of these stories recount how animals have saved the lives of humans, like Toto, the chimp. Then the section on dolphins is very interesting as it shows the amazing powers these swimmers have and how dolphin therapy has helped people with depression and disabilities.

And The Jungle Book’s plot of Mowgli being cared for by a wolf pack seems believable after reading about two girls in India, in 1920, that were spotted in a wolf den with wolf cubs! The girls howled and behaved like the wolves and never overcame their wild ways.

The books is an attempt to remind us that we share this planet with all the animals and there is room enough for all of us here, so it’s time to respect all creatures.

Published in Dawn, Young World, May 14th, 2015